BICOM

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged Iran not to renege on its commitments agreed in the JCPOA nuclear agreement, after Iran announced it would restart certain aspects of its nuclear programme in response to the US withdrawal from the agreement.

The Foreign Secretary said: “In return for the lifting of sanctions, Iran agreed to vital compliance measures. If they break that deal, then there will be consequences in terms of how European powers react. So we urge the Iranians to think very long and hard before they break that deal. It is in no one’s interest, it is certainly not in their interest because the moment they go nuclear, their neighbours will as well. And so that’s why this is a very serious moment, and we strongly urge them to reconsider what they said in their letter.” He continued: “This is a very big moment for Iran. Their economy is in a state of severe distress; it’s the last thing they should be doing for the Iranian people, to be investing money in re-nuclearizing, and it will make them less secure, not more secure.”

The Foreign Secretary spoke during a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the Foreign Office in London. Hunt referenced their difference of opinion over the Iran nuclear deal, stating: “Whilst we both agree that Iran must never be able to acquire a nuclear weapon, it is no secret that we have a different approach on how best to achieve that.”

But in light of Iran’s announcement, he continued: “The UK has continued to support the nuclear deal… But today’s announcement from Tehran about its commitments under the deal is an unwelcome step. I urge Iran not to take further escalatory steps and to stand by its commitments.”

But Pompeo emphasised that the US and UK were “on the same side” and said the US was grateful for the UK’s support of American diplomacy and pressure on a range of issues, including in the Middle Eastern context US policy towards Syria and Yemen. Pompeo urged the UK to take back terrorist fighters captured on the battlefield. Hunt said the UK is working through the issue “closely” and that the government is “looking at all the options available to us in this situation.”

A joint statement was issued this morning by the High Representative of the European Union and the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and the United Kingdom that expressed ‘great concern’ at the Iran’s announcement yesterday and said: “We strongly urge Iran to continue to implement its commitments under the JCPoA in full as it has done until now and to refrain from any escalatory steps. We reject any ultimatums and we will assess Iran’s compliance on the basis of Iran’s performance regarding its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPoA and the NPT (Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons). We are determined to continue pursuing efforts to enable the continuation of legitimate trade with Iran, including through the operationalisation of the special purpose vehicle “INSTEX”.